I recently visited the Hermitage in St Petersburg, Russia – one of the best art museums in the world. I was expecting to serenely experience its masterpieces, but my view was blocked by a wall of smart phones taking pictures of the paintings.

Lincoln Alternative High School is in the small city of Walla Walla in southeastern Washington. It had been a place for students with disciplinary issues, those removed from the area’s other high schools, ordered there by a judge, or those who had performed poorly in middle school.

Most of us, at some point, have turned to food to make ourselves feel better. Whether it is snuggling up with a pot of ice cream following a break up (channeling an inner Bridget Jones perhaps) or turning to chocolate and biscuits to keep us going through a difficult day at work.

We all know the advice for healthy teeth – brush twice daily and don’t eat too much sugar. So why do those of us following these instructions find we sometimes need a filling when we visit the dentist?

If, like many, you are searching for your calling in life – perhaps you are still unsure which profession aligns with what you most care about – here are five recent research findings worth taking into consideration.

Our most recent run of luck influences our high-risk choices at the poker table or in our everyday lives, a new study suggests.

]]>robertjennings@robertjennings.org (Chanapa Tantibanchachai)FeaturedBehavior ModificationAttitude AdjustmentsPersonal DevelopmentWed, 09 Jan 2019 03:57:51 -0500Caring About The Collective In An Age Of Individualismhttps://innerself.com/content/personal/relationships/18692-caring-about-the-collective-in-an-age-of-individualism.html
https://innerself.com/content/personal/relationships/18692-caring-about-the-collective-in-an-age-of-individualism.html

When it comes to urban planning, the question is not so much how to physically plan our cities differently. Rather, the question is how to convince both the public and our politicians to implement change.

Setting speed limits just five miles per hour below engineering recommendations produces a statistically significant decrease in total, fatal, and injury crashes, and property-damage-only crashes, according to researchers.

Public health guidelines, such as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, have long emphasized reducing dietary fat intake, but nutritionists and other health scientists now have more recent evidence that not all fats have adverse effects.

Most dogs don’t like to travel, and those that do have usually had to learn to like it.

]]>robertjennings@robertjennings.org (Paul McGreevy)FeaturedPets & YouHome & GardenLiving in HarmonyTue, 08 Jan 2019 03:39:00 -0500How Parents Can Help Their Children Make And Maintain Good Friendshipshttps://innerself.com/content/personal/relationships/parenting/18681-how-parents-can-help-their-children-make-and-maintain-good-friendships.html
https://innerself.com/content/personal/relationships/parenting/18681-how-parents-can-help-their-children-make-and-maintain-good-friendships.html

Secondary school can be a lonely place for adolescents who don’t have a best friend or a group of trusted friends.

An estimated 3.3 million American Muslims celebrate Ramadan. The month of Ramadan marks the time when Prophet Muhammad is believed to have first received revelations from God and has been celebrated at the White House since 1996.

There is a growing global trend to consider pets as part of the family. In fact, millions of people around the world love their pets, enjoying their companionship, going for walks, playing and even talking to them

The passage of time is a puzzling thing. While few will dispute that a minute comprises 60 seconds, the perception of time can vary dramatically from person to person and from one situation to the next.

To be “in this world but not of it” is the ultimate challenge. It's so much easier to withdraw from the craziness or get lost in it. Trauma specialists identify isolated incidents of extreme stress, but who considers the daily damage from living in this madhouse prison called civilization? Especially when...

Swedish academic Hans Rosling has identified a worrying trend: not only do many people across advanced economies have no idea that the world is becoming a much better place, but they actually even think the opposite.

Just as our food diet affects our physical and emotional health, so does our “experience diet”. This is the day-to-day mix of the things we do, see, hear and feel. And, just like our food diet, the quantity, quality and balance of those experiences need to be right.

The breaking open that is happening right before our eyes and under our feet is actually creating conditions, situations, and circumstances that are ripe for transformation. It’s up to us to be clear and intentional about how we respond to what is happening.

According to ReelSEO.com, a website about video marketing, there are more than two million cat videos on YouTube. People have watched these videos more than 25 billion times, which equates to an average of 12,000 views per cat video.

The news that McDonald’s has launched a new plant-based “Happy Meal” for children based on a vegan “wrap” would seem to bear this idea out. McDonald’s new offering is the latest in a wave of vegetarian or vegan product launches

Cleansing is the art and process of making health-enhancing dietary and lifestyle changes. These changes aid in effectively managing stress, eliminating toxins, improving nutritional intake, and cultivating a deeper connection with our innate wisdom.

This is a shamanic method practiced by the shamans in Siberia and Mongolia who believe a man will lead a hard life until he takes his spirits with him. The most powerful expressions of the soul are the spirits, the so-called power images...

Are you sitting down? Then you may want to stand up to read this, as research from the US has found that sitting for too long could increase your risk of dying – even if you exercise.

]]>robertjennings@robertjennings.org (Matthew Haines)FeaturedFitness & ExerciseHealth & WellnessLiving in HarmonySat, 05 Jan 2019 08:38:13 -0500Message Sent, Received But No Instant Reply: How Does That Make You Feel?https://innerself.com/content/personal/attitudes-transformed/18659-message-sent-received-but-no-instant-reply-how-does-that-make-you-feel.html
https://innerself.com/content/personal/attitudes-transformed/18659-message-sent-received-but-no-instant-reply-how-does-that-make-you-feel.html

Your phone chimes, it’s a message from your partner. You reply instantly because that’s what you always do.

This weekly astrological journal is based on planetary influences, and offers perspectives and insights to assist you in making the best use of current energies. This column is not intended as prediction. Your own experience will be more specifically defined by transits to your personal chart.

We must believe that we are capable of creating “a place of love and mutual assistance and understanding.” This is how visionary Tim Berners-Lee described the utopianist John Perry Barlow at the time of his death, adding: “I don’t think he was naïve.”

This week we reflect on the interconnectivity of all things. As we recognize our oneness and how every single thing affects the whole, whether physically or emotionally, we come to the realization that we have arrived at...

It’s the start of a new year and there is no doubt that 2019 will be as saturated with nutritional nonsense as 2018. The wellness industry was worth $4.2 trillion in 2017 and this figure is set to keep rising.

]]>robertjennings@robertjennings.org (Sophie Medlin)FeaturedHealth & WellnessLiving in HarmonyFri, 04 Jan 2019 10:22:26 -0500Is It Time To Put The 15 Hour Work Week Back On The Agendahttps://innerself.com/content/social/economy/18653-is-it-time-to-put-the-15-hour-work-week-back-on-the-agenda.html
https://innerself.com/content/social/economy/18653-is-it-time-to-put-the-15-hour-work-week-back-on-the-agenda.html

It was once widely anticipated that the process which saw the standard working week fall from 60 to 40 hours in wealthy nations over the first half of the 20th century would continue.

]]>robertjennings@robertjennings.org (Anthony Veal)FeaturedEconomySocial & PoliticalFri, 04 Jan 2019 09:03:09 -0500How To Do The Right Exercise For Your Age To Keep Fithttps://innerself.com/content/living/health/fitness-and-exercise/18651-how-to-do-the-right-exercise-for-your-age-to-keep-fit.html
https://innerself.com/content/living/health/fitness-and-exercise/18651-how-to-do-the-right-exercise-for-your-age-to-keep-fit.html

The effect of exercise on health is profound. It can protect you from a range of conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

]]>robertjennings@robertjennings.org (Julie Broderick)FeaturedFitness & ExerciseHealth & WellnessLiving in HarmonyFri, 04 Jan 2019 03:50:57 -0500Dealing With The Devil Has Long Been A Part Of Medicinehttps://innerself.com/content/personal/spirituality-mindfulness/religions-a-beliefs/18652-dealing-with-devil-has-long-been-a-part-of-medicine.html
https://innerself.com/content/personal/spirituality-mindfulness/religions-a-beliefs/18652-dealing-with-devil-has-long-been-a-part-of-medicine.html

In the winter of 1566, 30 children in Amsterdam began to show signs of a disturbing affliction.

Much of the advice about getting rid of clutter seems to start with the cheerfully abrupt command to “Just do it!” But when you can’t identify the underlying beliefs that are causing you to become buried in clut­ter, that’s almost impossible. So I’ve listed a few tough-love strategies to initiate change...

You’re not alone if colder weather and longer nights make you feel down. This well-known phenomenon, called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), might explain why people feel low, irritable, and lethargic in the winter months.

Every year, from 5 to 20 percent of the people in the United States will become infected with influenza virus.

]]>robertjennings@robertjennings.org (Laura Haynes)FeaturedHealth & WellnessLiving in HarmonyThu, 03 Jan 2019 03:38:17 -0500To Feel Happier, We Have To Resolve To The Life We Evolved To Livehttps://innerself.com/content/personal/happiness-and-self-help/18642-to-feel-happier-we-have-to-resolve-to-the-life-we-evolved-to-live.html
https://innerself.com/content/personal/happiness-and-self-help/18642-to-feel-happier-we-have-to-resolve-to-the-life-we-evolved-to-live.html

When we have to give a talk to a group of people, we feel anxious and experience the bodily fear responses that do not make sense now: The system is not meant to function in this safe context.

Should being under 18 give youth a discount on the price to pay for their crimes? As a matter of conscience, it should – even kids such as Cunningham deserve a break. In fact, in every mature legal system, age matters

Every year most of us make New Year’s resolutions. Eat healthier. Exercise regularly. Invest more in valued relationships. Learn a language. And so on. Often they are the same resolutions as last year.

When a dog behaves unnaturally in response to any neurotic, chaotic, or disruptive energy taken on from humans, he tends to look confused because he has nowhere to put the energy that is reverberating within him. He doesn’t really know why he is acting out, nor does his behavior make the least bit of sense to him.

Probably since I was an older child, I prided myself in all the things I could do, in my illusion of independence. But it didn’t stop with physical things. In my pseudo-independence, I ventured into emotional regions, and declared my lack of need for love.

In early December, The Wall Street Journal published a feature titled “The Loneliest Generation.” “Baby boomers,” the article notes, “are aging alone more than any generation in U.S. history, and the resulting loneliness is a looming public health threat.”

Encouraging people to meet specific fitness goals when they are new to exercising can be ineffective. In fact, it may even make it harder to become active, according to an editorial published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

I wish you, and all of us, a perfect new year. Yes, perfect! Perhaps this definition of perfection will help clarify my wish for you: "Perfection, in God's eyes, is being incapable of choosing deeds that are not based solely in love..."

This weekly astrological journal is based on planetary influences, and offers perspectives and insights to assist you in making the best use of current energies. This column is not intended as prediction. Your own experience will be more specifically defined by transits to your personal chart.

]]>pam@northpointastrology.com (Pam Younghans)FeaturedHoroscopeAstrologyIntuition & AwarenessPersonal DevelopmentMon, 31 Dec 2018 03:10:00 -0500Bringing Back the True Meaning of the Holidays and the New Yearhttps://innerself.com/content/personal/spirituality-mindfulness/inspiration/18625-bringing-back-the-true-meaning-of-the-holidays-and-the-new-year.html
https://innerself.com/content/personal/spirituality-mindfulness/inspiration/18625-bringing-back-the-true-meaning-of-the-holidays-and-the-new-year.html

Each of us is encouraged to become our own Elijah by simply doing something nice for someone else. Elijah is a Biblical prophet who appears throughout history to spread light in the midst of darkness. He is the person who comes into your life and makes your day!

]]>admin@innerself.ca (Rabbi Daniel Cohen)FeaturedInspirationSpirituality & MindfulnessPersonal DevelopmentSun, 30 Dec 2018 12:53:00 -0500Why Two People See The Same Thing But Have Different Memorieshttps://innerself.com/content/personal/intuition-awareness/18620-why-two-people-see-the-same-thing-but-have-different-memories.html
https://innerself.com/content/personal/intuition-awareness/18620-why-two-people-see-the-same-thing-but-have-different-memories.html

Does it ever strike you as odd that you and a friend can experience the same event at the same time, but come away with different memories of what happened? So why is it that people can recall the same thing so differently?

There are many things in life that can make our existence easier or more difficult. A huge factor is our attitude. One attitude that has served me well is recognizing that everything I do is by choice... Even if appearances may seem like I don't always have a choice, I really do.

There are many wishes people make for family and friends at the start of a new year: for health and success, for love and prosperity, for success in their studies or any special endeavour, the list is very long. However, there is one I wish to make for all readers of this...

Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with 38% of Australian households owning dogs. Dogs improve the quality of our lives, and studies show that exposure to dogs can even improve our immune system.

We're all carrying around such incredibly heavy loads of excess baggage, stuff we don't need, stuff that's weighing us down and preventing our Good from manifesting. One of the best ways to feel better is to release. When you release, you become lighter. Releasing is a good way to raise your energy.

Cynicism seems to have a lot going for it in the modern world. I know that I didn’t give up cynicism until it utterly failed me as a means of self-protection. As I began to understand the psychological roots of my physical collapse, it became clear that my cynical, stressful attitudes toward life had delivered me into this catastrophic con­dition.

As we enter the New Year, we all hope this year will be better than the last one, and new and wonderful things will come to us. We seek to improve our worldly situations and become better people. But what if the most wonderful thing that could happen would be to realize...

]]>info@alancohen.com (Alan Cohen)FeaturedLife ChangesHappiness & SuccessPersonal DevelopmentSat, 29 Dec 2018 08:20:00 -0500Now That Christmas Is Over, What Are You Going To Do With Your Tree?https://innerself.com/content/social/environment/18611-now-that-christmas-is-over-what-are-you-going-to-do-with-your-tree.html
https://innerself.com/content/social/environment/18611-now-that-christmas-is-over-what-are-you-going-to-do-with-your-tree.html

How time flies. But as the festive season draws to a close there is one thing left to sort out: what to do with the Christmas tree? Do we recycle it or just throw it away?

Climate change news can be incredibly depressing. But things cannot be entirely bad, can they? We asked some climate researchers to peer through the smog and highlight a few positive stories from 2018.